Siena Heights women's basketball beats Spring Arbor in opener

Wednesday

Nov 13, 2013 at 1:00 PM

By David GiffordDaily Telegram Sports Writer

The Siena Heights University women's basketball team took to the court Tuesday night to open its season, hoping to duplicate last year's appearance in the NAIA Division II National Tournament and improve upon its third-place finish in the tough Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference.

The 16th-ranked Saints got off to a rousing start, downing previously undefeated non-conference opponent Spring Arbor 80-53 in a game that was decided by halftime.

Siena Heights used a hot start from its two top returning scorers to kick-start the game. Before the Cougars were able to loosen up, the hot hands of junior guards Sierra Calhoun and Morgan Warfield helped the Saints jump out to a 15-5 lead.

Sixteen seconds into the game, Calhoun took a pass on the right wing, dribbled to the middle and stopped to hit a 12-foot jumper. She then drove baseline for a lay-up, before Warfield canned a 15-foot jumper causing the Cougars to call a quick timeout.

"We were looking for Calhoun," said Saints Head Coach Sue Syljebeck. "We want to begin with her and get her and Morgan going right away."

Spring Arbor was able to score out of the timeout, but Calhoun and Warfield weren't finished filling up the basket. Another layup by Calhoun, a missed Cougar shot, and a long, high-arcing triple from the left corner by Warfield pushed the Saints' lead to nine.

Two minutes later, another Calhoun lay-up pushed the lead to double digits, and the season was barely six minutes old. Calhoun and Warfield combined to score 13 of the first 15 points, and they were just getting warmed up.

Siena Heights kept pushing the up-tempo pace, as to be expected from their guard-heavy lineup. The Saints list 10 guards on their 15-player roster, and Syljebeck is confident enough to use the entire roster.

"We tried to push the pace, and we want to run," said Syljebeck. "We are deep, and we knew they weren't very deep, so we were hoping to wear on them a little bit and use that to our advantage."

When your team is as efficient as the Saints were Tuesday, getting a lot of shots off can push the scoreboard up quickly. At the halfway point of the first half, Siena Heights had two points per minute, leading 22-10. Jessica Arnold and Alexxis Knannlein both came off the bench to log positive minutes and efficient scoring.

With five minutes to go in the half, Warfield made what may have been both the slickest play and headiest play of the game.

Putting defensive pressure on the Cougar guards out near the 3-point line, Warfield was able to get her hands on a ball and deflect it enough to grab it herself. Taking off down the court, a Spring Arbor player looked to jump her dribble for a steal. Warfield calmly dribbled around her back, and with Grace Howrigon running the break with her, the Saints players were on a 2-on-1 break. Not having the angle to make the pass to Howrigon, and instead of racing forward to try a shot on her own, Warfield slowed down just enough to create an angle that she could easily bounce pass to Howrigon for a lay-up. That play took the Siena lead to 29-15.

"Morgan Warfield is such a hard worker," Syljebeck said. "She's here on weekends, over the summer, whenever she can. She proved herself as a freshman, but then improved enough to become all-conference as a sophomore."

With quickness on the perimeter and power inside, Siena held the Cougars to 25 percent shooting from the field in the first half and 28 percent in the game. Meanwhile, the Saints finished the game shooting at a rate of 60 percent. The Saints took a commanding 46-18 lead into the locker room.

"We like to hang our hat on defense," said Syljebeck. "Last year we were fourth in the nation for field-goal percentage defense, and with a group of returners from last year, we expect to do very well at that again."

The second half saw Siena Heights maintain its lead. At times Spring Arbor was able to cut the lead down a little, but Siena Heights would make a run to push the lead back up.